Sounders keep streak alive

First Division leaders 11-0-2 in past 13 games

By MATTHEW GASCHK, SPECIAL TO THE P-I

Published 10:00 pm, Wednesday, August 22, 2007

The Sounders have had some good luck over the past two months, evidenced by an 11-0-2 record.

That luck continued Wednesday. Leighton O'Brien scored the first goal on an odd bounce and added two more late goals in a 3-0 win over the Atlanta Silverbacks, strengthening their hold on first place in the United Soccer Leagues First Division.

O'Brien was credited with a goal in the 47th minute when he sent a shot toward one corner of the net and it bounced off an Atlanta defender into the opposite corner. He later added an assist in a goal by Taylor Graham, and Roger Levesque added an insurance goal. Goalkeeper Chris Eylander earned his 11th regular-season shutout to move into a tie for the league lead. But O'Brien was the hero of this victory.

"With all the frustrations he's had throughout the year, for him to come and have a good game and score a goal and be a factor -- I feel good for him," head coach Brian Schmetzer said.

Seattle and Atlanta combined for eight shots in a high-tempo first half, but the half was marked by stingy defense.

O'Brien has scored in two consecutive games. He scored the lone goal on a penalty kick in Seattle's 1-0 win over the California Victory on Saturday.

"Through my whole career it seems once I touch the net it just seems like they keep coming," said O'Brien, who missed 13 of the Sounders' 24 regular-season games with various injuries. "It's just breaking the ice and I always seem to be that way and then I get on a roll."

In a physical second half, the Sounders got their second goal in the 81st minute after a failed corner kick bounced back to O'Brien near the corner flag. He whipped a second cross toward the far post where Graham streaked toward the net and powered a header past Atlanta goalie Ryan McIntosh.

The Sounders scored again in the 83rd minute, when O'Brien flipped a pass to Kevin Sakuda. Sakuda and McIntosh collided 6 yards out from the goal, and Levesque slammed the loose ball into the net for his team-leading seventh goal.

The Sounders hope to extend their unbeaten streak to 14 games on Sunday against the Charleston Battery at 5 p.m. at Qwest Field.